Evaluation of agricultural substrates for morphological traits and yield performance of Pleurotus florida mushroom

The present study Evaluation of agricultural substrates on morphological traits and yield performance of Pleurotus florida”, was conducted to assess how effective and sustainable it is to use various locally available substrates for cultivating Pleurotus florida. Morphological characters such as stipe length, stipe size, pileus diameter were observed across six treatments using soybean straw, wheat straw, paddy straw, sugarcane bagasse, sugarcane trash, and pigeonpea straw. Average fruit body weight, number of fruits/kg dry substrate, yield performance, biological efficiency was also measured. Morphological characteristics varied: Pileus diameter ranged from 6.64 to 9.44 cm. Treatment T1 (soybean straw) resulted in the largest pileus diameter, measuring 9.44 cm. In contrast, T5 (sugarcane trash) exhibited the smallest diameter, 6.64 cm. Stipe length varied from 2.38 to 4.35 cm. Among substrates, T4 (sugarcane bagasse) had the longest stipe (4.35 cm), whereas the shortest (2.38 cm) was observed on sugarcane trash. Stipe size ranged from 1.25 to 4.11 cm. The maximum was recorded on soybean straw (4.11 cm), the minimum on sugarcane trash (1.25 cm). The heaviest average fruit body weight (11.13 g) was recorded in T1, followed by T2 (10.38 g) and T4 (10.06 g), while T5 had the lightest (8.10 g). The number of fruiting bodies per bed ranged from 174.79 to 239.98, with T1 producing the highest (239.98), and the lowest in T6 (174.79). Yield per kilogram of dry substrate ranged from 853.37 g to 1095.85 g, highest in T1 and lowest in T4. In conclusion, T1 (soybean straw) proved to be the most effective substrate for cultivating Pleurotus florida. It showed maximum pileus diameter, highest number of fruiting bodies, best biological efficiency and productivity.